The Forgotten Sister
by anyabar1987
Summary: reuploaded What if Ashley had a secret that she didn't talk about and what if there was a person who knew Alieta's past after all?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters to this story they are owned by their prospective creators.

Chapter 1

A girl of about eleven sat in front of a girl of about twelve, the two of them taking turns doing each other's hair before school. One girl had pink hair and the other had light brown hair.

"_Aelita, can you not make me look like a little kid?"_ the brunette girl complained._ "I may be a little fifth grader at the academy but I don't always want to be known as the little Hopper baby."_

"_Why would you be called the Hopper baby? Tell me who has been calling you names, Ashley,"_ the older girl demanded.

"_I don't know! Maybe because I have been really emotional this past year with Mamma dying and all the problems with Daddy. Do you think he will be able to keep his job at the academy?"_

"_Ashley, why would you say that?"_ Aelita demanded, looking strictly at her sister.

"_Last week, during the faculty meeting while you were out hanging with Chris Morales, I was spying on some of the teachers during their break and they were saying that Daddy was losing his touch,"_ Ashley confessed. Knowing that she was about to get in a lot of trouble, she put her head down.

"_Ashley, who told you you could spy on the teachers? You were supposed to be out in the yard with me, or was that the time you ran in to use the bathrooms?"_

"_It was that time. I swear I only listened for a short while."_

"_I am sure the teachers meant something else, and what did Mom always tell us about eavesdropping?"_ Aelita looked at her sister and set the brush down. _"Come on, Ash, I don't want to be late, I promised Chris I would join him for breakfast at the academy so we could study for that big history test this afternoon."_

Walking downstairs, they grabbed their bikes off of the porch and rode to school like they had for the whole year since Ashley had become old enough to attend Kadic.

On the way into school, Ashley looked at her exam schedule, _"Oh no! Aelita, can you give me some pointers in basic algebra? My exam for that class is today."_

Looking at the time for the class, Aelita sighed. _"Ashley, I told you, you should've studied more last weekend. You know algebra is not your strong point. But yes, I can help you during lunch."_

"_Oh, thank you, Aelita, you're the best big sis ever. I know now I should've studied but the Delmas baby is just so cute and Mrs. Delmas is paying me to help her."_ Ashley grinned as she remember fondly of the little two year old who was just a ball of fire.

"_I can't believe it, the last day of school. This is going to be the most perfect summer ever because once again we are in the same school with similar circles of friends,"_ Ashley squealed at her sister a year later. However, the excitement from each of their faces faded when they walked inside and their father, who always had last period off, was sitting at the kitchen table instead of playing his usual on the piano.

Aelita walked over to her father and proceeded to massage his shoulders, which she knew he loved. _"Daddy, is something wrong?"_

"_No, nothing that can't be fixed is wrong. However, I have made my mind up that one of you is going to live with your aunt in the United States. I have a plane ticket for next week."_

The sudden news shocked both of the girls hard. They ran up to their shared room and huddled on the bottom bunk, scared and disbelieving. Ashley whimpered, _"I wonder which one of us is leaving?"_ She cried before hugging her sister, _"Oh, Aelita, I don't know what I would do without you helping me with my schoolwork."_

"_Don't worry, Ashley,"_ Aelita consoled her sister. She frowned, and said, _"I'm s ure Daddy is just stressed and maybe after a few days of summer break he'll come to his senses and change his mind."_

By the end of the week they still had not heard which one of them were leaving. They began to think that their father had come around and the whole thing was over with until Aelita noticed a plane ticket stuck to the refrigerator.

Ashley cried herself to sleep that night. _"I bet it's me! Have you noticed Daddy has been distancing himself from me the last week? When we came up here for bed he didn't even say "I love you, angel" to me."_

"_No, Ashley, if he's sending anyone away it is me because I look a lot like Mommy and I thought he was going to send me away right after the funeral. I just never told you."_ Aelita comforted her sister.

The next morning was the day the flight was marked to leave. Both girls went to go say goodbye to their friends, as they still didn't know which one of them were leaving. When they came back all, of Ashley's clothes and personal items were in three suitcases sitting on the porch. Sitting down, she bawled her eyes out until her father brought the car around.

"_Aelita, I need you to go pack a bag with some clothes. Mr. Delmas has agreed to let you stay with them for a few days while I drop your sister off with your aunt."_ He grabbed Ashley's hand. _"Come on now, Ashley. Wipe the tears off your face, it will be much better for you with your aunt."_

Andros woke up to find himself being tossed out of bed. At first he thought the Megaship had encountered some turbulence, sleepily remembering that he and Ashley and Carlos were on tour to promote peace to a prospective new member of the Kerovian alliance.

Then he realized the ship was still and it was Ashley, his wife of a year and a half, tossing in bed. She never did that and he woke up a little more, a little bit worried. She mumbled in a language that he didn't recognize—not Kerovian and definitely not English, but he couldn't place it.

He tried to shake her awake, but she just started yelling and showed no signs of waking. Andros stood up and slipped on his uniform. On the bridge he found Carlos sitting watch, even though it wasn't necesssary.

"Old habits die hard, I see. Take you off the Megaship for a few years and you still act the way you did when we were at war."

"I just couldn't sleep, what about you?" Carlos replied.

"I was sleeping until I got tossed out of bed by my sweetheart tossing and uttering words I have never heard her speak before," Andros said. He frowned, struck by a sudden memory. "Actually, come to think of it… She did this once last year, but she wasn't nearly this upset."

"Well, I have a pretty good guess as to the language she was speaking," Carlos offered. "But I've only known her since she moved Angel Grove, so I don't know too much more than that, though. My guess was she was screaming in French. But don't ask me any more then that because once she became more confident in her English—after sixth grade, she was almost silent that year—she hardly ever spoke in French, much less talked about her past," he explained as he thought back to when he had first met Ashley.

He was sitting in his sixth grade classroom and Mrs. Drame was walking around the room learning each of the kids names. It was a welcome distraction when the door opened and a young girl wearing a yellow shirt and her hair to the side walked in with a teacher's aide. After talking quietly to the teacher, the aide introduced herself as Mrs. Meilstrup and the girl with her as Ashley. She explained to the class that she would be with them for a good part of the year, seeing as Ashley knew very little English.

He knew that when she talked for the first part of the year it was with her translator and it always seemed to refer to her school work. It wasn't till seventh grade that he really heard her speak English confidently to another person and come out of her shell but even then it was limited. Once her English got better he never heard her speak French in public; in fact, when he officially became his friend in eighth grade, her French accent was fading and she spoke entirely in English. Better than he spoke it, even.

"Something must really be bothering her, because after I became a real friend of hers when we were in the eighth grade I once asked her to teach me some French. She told me that she knew enough English to never again speak it. To this day, I haven't heard her speak one word of French," Carlos said, coming out of his daydream of when he had first met Ashley.

Andros sighed, wondering if there was anything that could be done for Ashley. He knew that if this was going to be anything like last year, she would wake up in the morning and insist everything was alright and never speak of it. "I'm going to surprise her with a trip to France," he decided. "Maybe going back to her home country would convince her to talk about her nightmares."

He thought for another minute, and then nodded. "I'm turning the ship around, we are ahead of schedule and I have been wanting a vacation with Ashley so we are going to get one."

"Be careful, Andros," Carlos warned him. "I have no idea about how she would react to a surprise trip to France, seeing how reluctant she is to talk about her life there."

"I know what I am doing." Andros grinned. "Have you ever seen Ashley stay mad at me for more then a few moments?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Anything in italics is spoken in French._

Chapter 2

The next morning when Ashley woke up, Andros found himself proved right. She never talked about the dreams that had forced him out of bed. Instead, she dressed and went about her day. Looking out the observation port while sipping her coffee, she noticed that they were circling Earth and not Regal XVIII like they were supposed to be.

She went looking for her husband.

"Andros, how come we are back at Earth?" Ashley asked once she found him with his head stuck in the engines cleaning out some filters.

"Well, I got a transmission saying that something had come up on Regal XVIII and wouldn't be ready for us for another month," Andros explained. "Carlos was wanting to get back to his wife and family. so I decided to come back here for a bit so you and I could take a much needed vacation." Andros smiled as he straightened up and turned to face his wife.

"Oh… Andros, you're so sweet, but why come to Earth for a vacation? We have the whole universe at our disposal. Surely you would rather go somewhere else," Ashley cooed as she laid her head on Andros's shoulder, playing with his red shirt.

"Yes, I know we do enjoy other places around the universe, but the fact remains your from Earth and other than what you and the rest of the Earth teams have taught me about Earth, I am still a stranger to mass parts of the world." He paused and rubbed her shoulder. "I want to pick a random country for us to explore for at least a week."

"Umm, that sounds good… As long as they speak English or Spanish, seeing as I know a little bit of Spanish from hanging with Carlos," Ashley whispered.

"I'll take that to mind when I choose the location." Andros laughed as he rubbed her back and went back to work. "But make sure you have your clothes packed for the trip by tonight, because once I get the plane tickets we will be leaving on the first flight."

At the airport, Andros led Ashley to the correct terminal and went through all the security stops. So far she didn't realize where they were going but he knew she would figure it out soon enough. And soon enough she did, when the voice on the loudspeaker announced that they were on a flight for Paris France.

"Andros, of all the places, did you have to pick France?" Ashley said, turning in her seat and looking at him.

"Well, I was talking with Carlos and he mentioned that you used to be an expert on France when you were younger, so I thought it might be a good idea if for this vacation you show me around." Andros replied with a sligh smirk on his face.

"Carlos told you that I don't like to talk about that past, didn't he?" she snapped, fuming. "I have good reasons as well and I would like greatly to get off this flight right now because France is the last place I want to be right now." Ashley looked very uncomfortable. However, when the announcement for lift off came, she sat down and followed directions.

"Ashley, why don't you want to go to France?" Andros asked calmly.

"One thing Carlos doesn't really know is that when I first came to Angel Grove, I had a different last name, but we weren't that close then. I was adopted about after arriving effectively changing my last name. I came to the states Ashley Hopper, but she is gone because I realized my father never cared for me. In essence that Ashley, the Ashley from France is no more. I have tried so hard to forget about her and the fact that her estranged father left her on the doorstep to her aunts house with little so much as a goodbye." Ashley wiped her tears.

"I won't ask anymore, but I want you to go to France. I'm sure that you have the strength to face your past, I have seen you face up to the UAE." Andros reached for his wife's hand, and she took his.

Once they had gotten off of the plane, Ashley looked at Andros. "Does it matter where we go?"

"No, I didn't have any specific reservations," Andros said, and Ashley nodded.

"I did some thinking on the plane and I would like to show you where I grew up." She took his hand and led him towards a bus. After buying two tickets for a bus destined to a town on the south side of Paris, they loaded their baggage. By the time they had gotten of of the bus and found a taxi to take them to a hotel, it was late. Once checked in, the jet lag from the trip caught up with them, and they fell asleep together in each other's arms.

The next morning dawned bright and cheery. After a few minutes of hesitating, Ashley decided she wanted to take a walk around her old neighborhood. The first sight she saw upon going onto the street was what had been her house, now abandoned and dilapidated. Gasping, she walked up to the front gate.

Andros looked at the house and walked up next to Ashley. She shook her head, whispering, _"No, no,_ _this can't be possible…" _before pushing past him. She walked up the path and in the broken down door.

"Ashley?" Andros followed her in and glanced around the house.

"This used to be Ashley Hopper's house," she said, almost in a sort of trance. It took an effort to separate herself from who she was when she lived there. "I can't believe how trashed it is. It was true what my aunt said my father disappeared a while ago, because it has to have been a while since someone lived here…. what's left from being looted I can tell belonged to my sister," Ashley murmured.

Andros looked at her. "Ashley I knew somewhere inside you, you knew still knew French. You haven't shut it out completely." Ashley looked curiously at Andros, and he explained. "Just a few minutes ago you spoke French."

"No, I am sure you must be mistaken. I haven't spoken French since I was in the seventh grade. I'm not sure I even remember how to speak a decent sentence." Ashley denied what Andros had just heard. She turned and walked out the door and proceeded to walk further down the street.

Andros was about to catch up when Ashley absentmindedly bumped into a man wearing orange baggy pants and a pair of dark sunglasses. "Oh, I am sorry, sir," she apologized. "I guess I wasn't looking where I was going. I am just visiting my old stomping grounds."

"_Do you know any French?" _the man asked. _"My English isn't that good."_

Andros walked up to Ashley then. She looked at him and said forcefully, "_I know a bit."_

"_Awesome. Hey do you know that you look familiar?"_ the man said taking off his glasses. _"You remind me of someone."_

"_Really, how so?"_ Ashley asked, a bit more comfortably but still really nervous.

"_Well, I had best get going. I have an appointment."_ He started walking on down the street and Ashley did the same, but being a bit more cautious about where she walked.

"I knew you still knew French, you just had to be convinced to talk in it." Andros grinned even though he didn't really know what had gone down in the conversation.

"I guess, but it still feels weird after eleven years of not speaking." Ashley continued down the street, pointing out houses and places she remembered. When she heard someone calling out from behind, she turned to see the man was coming back from behind her.

"_Hey, I know where I know you from! I just realized it. Man, it is good to see you again; when your father had you move away, I never thought I was going to see you again." _

"_Excuse me, but you must have me mistaken for someone else," _Ashley said, starting to turn back away.

"_Ashley, you seriously don't remember who I am?" _the man pleaded, taking his sunglasses back off.

At the mention of her name, she looked him over and looked into his eyes. She gasped before running towards him to hug him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"_Oh my goodness, Chris! What is with that hair, no wonder I almost didn't recognize you."_ Ashley laughed as she hugged the man who she now recognized as an old friend. "_I know you said you had a meeting, but do you have time to meet my husband? Maybe if you do we could get together for a soda or something."_

"_Well, I have a meeting downtown with my band but then I was going to eat lunch with my uncle back at the academy. But I think I can open my schedule for you instead, where would you like to meet?"_ he asked.

She held his hand like a little girl afraid that if she let him go she would never see him again. "_Is that old bugger still at the school?"_ Ashley asked.

"_Yes, and so is Delmas, as well as several of the same teachers. Hertz, for an example, is still there and has taken the position of head of the science department,"_ Chris explained.

"_Would it be possible… do you think that I could meet you at the school? I would like to see some of those guys and see if they still remember me," _Ashley said. and Chris nodded.

"_I will meet you and your husband by the front gate in about an hour."_

He and Ashley parted ways, and she walked back to a curious Andros. "Ashley who was that? After he called your name, you seemed pretty excited to see him."

"That was Chris. He was one of my best friends growing up. He lived at the school but once I met him, he sort of became like a big brother. When my mother passed away, he was there for me. I didn't recognize him because he died his hair," Ashley explained. "I agreed to meet him at the academy in an hour after his meeting. He wants to meet you."

Ashley smiled as she walked down the sidewalk, grinning at Andros.

"So what do you want to do for now?" Andros asked.

"We could go and sit in the park that is right next to the school." Ashley smiled and led him to the park, where they found a bench.

They had been sitting for a few moments when Andros pointed at a kid's head that had just popped out of the bushes. "I think we have company. It looks like they may have been there awhile because I didn't see them run to over there."

Ashley gazed at the group of kids. "They used the old sewer tunnels that run from the school. Several students used it to beat curfew when I was a student here. They must have been using it to skip classes."

Her gaze landed on one member of the group—a pink haired girl wearing a dark, short dress with light pink pants. The peripheral view that she saw caught her memories and she gasped, "Aelita…"

Ashley was running alongside Aelita and Chris as they sprinted to get back to class. The two older ones had skipped study hall to run back to the hermitage to help her get her project for class, but because they didn't want to be seen leaving campus they had used the sewer system and in the process had found that there was an exit right behind their house. Despite skipping study hall, they were running late for their next class.

"_Oi, you know how much I dislike science and what's worse is Daddy always makes it seem like I am the class idol. You'd think having a father who was so into science I would be more interested, but I'm not," _Aelita complained as they came to a stop in front of the science building where she and Chris had class.

"_Hey, you guys are lucky; you don't ever have to take that natural history class that this project is for," _Ashley whined as she shifted the stuff for her project.

Chris grinned. _"Yeah, lucky for us it was added to the curriculum just this year after we were already done with the credit that class replaces."_

"_Hey, I am glad I get one class with you even though you're in another grade than I am." _Ashley grinned.

Aelita rolled her eyes. "_I couldn't really care less about that computer class that is required for all students this year. I think computers are so overrated."_

"_Hey, one good thing is coming out of them," _Chris argued. "_The new level they bring to music editing is amazing. I think they will do wonders for music synthesizing."_

"_Whatever you say, Chris,"_ Aelita said with a roll of her eyes. "_Now, let's get on before my father gets all suspicious about why we were late to class. You know how my father has been since our mother's death."_

Ashley smiled slightly, remembering Aelita as she watched the girl disappear back into the school yard. "It's amazing how someone so much younger can look like someone you used to know."

Andros turned to look at Ashley. "Is something the matter?"

"No, Andros, I just got lost in my thoughts thinking about the sewer entrance over there."

"You muttered a word a bit ago. Was it something is French?"

"No, it was a name," she said slowly. Ashley sighed quietly before she explained. "A name I have been holding back. She was Chris's girlfriend just before I was sent away. But she was something more to me, she was my older sister. I could never have asked for a big sister better than she was to me.

"She never complained about me tagging along with her even though I was a class lower then she was. Just before I was sent away, she was trying to calm me down by telling me that she must be the one father was sending off because of her resemblance to our mother, but I guess you never know the insides of a crazy man." Ashley contemplated her words for a minute before laying her hand on Andros's knee. "Come on, it's almost time to go meet Chris for lunch."

When they got to the gate, Chris was already there. Ashley greeted him by kissing him on the cheeks, while Andros got very confused by this display of affection between the two.

Ashley introduced them to each other. "_Chris, I would like you to meet Andros, my husband."_

Chris walked over and shook Andros's hand. In slow English, he said, "It is very nice to meet you, Andros. Ashley told me you don't know any French?"

Andros nodded to his question, and Chris said, "Well, I will try to speak in English to you, but I must warn you my English is somewhat poor and underused." Turning to Ashley, he added, _"You would think for having become famous, I would use my English more but surprisingly I don't."_

Ashley giggled, but then got an excited smile on her face, "_Did you just say you and your band are famous?"_

For Andros' ease, he decided to speak in English. "Yes, we have been on the French charts for a couple of years. Some of our hits have made it to the States, though."

"Really? I haven't heard anything by the Submarines," Ashley said.

"That's probably because our manager changed our name. We are now the Subdigitals."

"Really? You're kidding me, right?" Ashley laughed as they walked through the school yard.

"No, I am very serious." Chris shook his head.

Ashley laid her head on Andros's shoulder and laughed. "I was asking because just the other day I was watching the English version of your song! I think it is called Planet Net or something like that."

"Yeah, I know which one you are talking about." Chris nodded. "I called my uncle on the way here and told him I was bringing an old friend with me, so he is expecting you, but doesn't know who I am bringing." Looking at Andros, he added, "Andros, I know I have been talking to Ashley and have hardly had a chance to talk to you, but just so you know, my uncle knows even less English than I do."

Walking into the cafeteria, Chris led the way to the faculty table through a crowd of noisy children. Jim and Mr. Delmas were sitting there already. When they got to the table, Chris introduced them which was followed by Jim and Mr. Delmas getting up to greet Ashley properly.

Meanwhile towards the other side of the cafeteria at their usual table, Odd saw the two strangers walk in with Chris. "_Hey… who's that that just walked in with Chris? Has anyone ever seen them before?"_

Everyone shook their heads except for Aelita. "_I don't know who they are, but the woman standing next to Chris seems familiar… Almost like I am having a flashback, but nothing comes up in my real memories as anywhere near as similar to them. I have spent time around Chris as well and given his age, he would have gone to school here about the same time my father worked here just before I got stranded on Lyoko."_

Jeremie looked at Aelita and placed a hand on hers. _"I wouldn't worry too much about it, I'm sure if it is important you will remember it or recover the rest of your memories in some way."_

"_You're righ,t Jeremie." _Aelita smiled just as Sissi walked past with a strange look on her face.

Odd took advantage of this. _"Hey, Sissi, did you finally realize that people with brains are actually smarter than you?"_

"_No, that woman that came in with Chris used to be some sort of baby sitter for me when I was really young and she just made me feel really uncomfortable. I hope she keeps all the baby stories to herself," _Sissi complained.

"_Oh yeah! What's her name?" _Yumi smirked.

"_How should I know? It's Ashley something," _Sissi said, as she tossed her hair and walked to her normal 'popular' table.

Just then Jeremie's laptop beeped, signaling a XANA attack. "_Oh no, not again. What's XANA up to this time?"_

The five of them stood up and proceeded to walk out of the cafeteria. They only got as far as the trashcans when Jim stood up and yelled across the hall to them, _"Belpois, Stern, Della-Robbia and Miss Stones, you had better not be thinking about skipping gym class today."_

For some reason, he stressed both Jeremie and Aelita even though Aelita went to gym every day. Him calling out caused everyone sitting down at the tables to laugh at the four of them.

"_Now, Jim, was that absolutely necessary? I know Belpois has been skipping a lot of gym classes, but I have talked to him about it. The others, however, have had fairly decent gym class attendances,"_ Mr. Delmas said to Jim.

"_Yes, it was. I figured if I could make it look like they would all get in trouble, Jeremie might just actually attend class." _Jim nodded.

Mr. Delmas just shook his head. "_So, Ashley, what have you been up to?"_

Ashley blushed. "_Well, when my father sent me away I went to live with my aunt. At first I had an unwillingness to try to fit in and held on as long as I could, so I was sent back to the sixth grade. It was some time after that that I met Andros, and just under two years ago we were married."_

"_Well, I supposed that should be congratulations in order for you." _ Mr. Delmas smiled to hear that things were going well for Ashley.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Aelita walked along after lunch. XANA caused a minor problem which they had taken care of, but the attack had taken enough time that they would have been late to class. Because of the threat from Jim during lunch, they had done a return to the past. Now it was just before gym class and they had gone to the locker room to get changed.

"_So evidently those two at lunch were not part of XANA's attack because they still came to lunch in this timeline. Who do you think they were?"_

Jeremie shrugged. _"I have no idea who they were, but the girl knew Sissi and she seemed to know Chris and most of the teachers."_

Odd looked at Jeremie_. "So this is the first time in how long that you've joined us for gym class?"_

"_Well, I didn't have much of a choice after that threat that was given when we tried to leave the cafeteria the first time around,"_ Jeremie replied.

Once inside the gymnasium, they noticed the girl standing with Jim. The two of them seemed to be in the middle of a friendly conversation.

Getting closer, they could hear the conversation. "_Yeah, well, I thought I would hang around here for a bit. All the French was going to Andros's head, so he went back to our hotel to lay down and, if I know him, probably to do some paperwork."_

"_You seem to have caught yourself a good one, though, Ashley, I'm impressed, especially because after your mother's death, you seemed a bit withdrawn. The only ones you ever talked to were Chris or your sister," _Jim replied.

"_Yeah, well, I am still going to have to yell at that husband of mine when I get back. He sometimes doesn't know how to separate from his work, and he told me that this vacation would just be for relaxation and trying to break through my barriers to things that I didn't like to talk about." _Ashley sighed.

"_Barriers? Ashley, whyever would you not want to talk about your past?" _Jim asked.

"_I don't know, maybe it has to do with the fact that my father pretty much abandoned me on my aunts doorstep never to hear from him again? But please, Jim, I would rather not go there right now, especially where it seems some of your students have arrived for class,"_ Ashley said, wiping the edge of her eyes.

Jim turned to see the four of them standing there. "_Well, will, miracles never cease to happen today. First one of my favorite star pupils from ten years ago returns and then Jeremie Belpois actually turns up for class.."_

Odd smiled. "_So Jim, how come you never talk about your past?"_

"_I well, I don't always think… hey, wait a minute, you were listening in our conversation! Odd, I still can think about changing your class schedule. The semester is still young."_

"_Okay, okay. Jim, take a chill pill for a minute. I was just asking." _Odd smirked.

"_Well, one day your asking is going to get you into trouble. Now on the double go get changed for gym class, or did you think that I would allow you to participate in your regular clothes?" _Jim yelled.

A little while later after they had changed, they were sitting on the floor waiting for Jim to give them directions.

"_Alright, class. Today we will have two groups. We are going to work with the gymnastic equipment while another group works with my friend here, who has kindly offered to help me today, does flips and cartwheels," _Jim said, waving the visitor over to his side. "_I would like you to meet Ashley Hopper – Hammond. Back over ten years ago, she was a fifth and sixth grader here at the academy, and I am proud to say in that day she the prize pupil of her class."_

"_Hello"_ Ashley smiled and introduced herself. _ "It's a pleasure to meet you all, and having been asked to help out for your class is a wonderful surprise to me because in the years I spent at other schools, I believe that I got a far better education here."_

After hearing that Ashley had been introduced with the name Hopper, Aelita had gone very pale. Jeremie looked at her and frowned. _"Aelita? Are you alright?"_

When he didn't get a response from her, he raised his arm, "_Uhh Jim? I don't think Aelita is feeling all that well. Would it be alright if I take her to the infirmary?"_

"_Jeremie, is this another ploy to get out of gym class? Because even if it isn't I am not letting you leave class."_

"_Jim, I will take her. I just realized I forgot my own wrist wraps so I need to go see if I can borrow some." _Ashley smiled.

"_Well, if you're sure, Ashley_."

Jeremie leaned over to Ulrich. "_You heard Jim. I can't go and I don't want to trust this Ashley person with Aelita too long, XANA could be masking his towers again and she could be in his control after all. I am sure it will be fine, but please just can you make an excuse to go with her?"_

"_Excuse me, Jim? I have a headache, could I please go to the infirmary?"_ Ulrich said, wincing while rubbing his temple to make it believable.

"_Yes, Stern, just make sure you come back as soon as your headache is gone." _Jim grunted as Ulrich got up and walked out with Aelita and Ashley.

Ashley turned and smiled. "_Do you really have a headache?"_

"_Uhh, of course I do. Why do you think I would ask to go to the infirmary? Are you calling me a liar?" _Ulrich protested.

"_No, I am not calling you a liar. I was just wondering because if you were I wouldn't blame you. I couldn't believe all the nice things Jim said about me back there because when I was a student, he really couldn't stand me and I couldn't stand him. I was always looking for an excuse to get away from his class." _Ashley smiled. "Although I loved spending time with his nephew, who was my older sister's boyfriend."

Aelita walked along lethargically and barely noticed the conversation the two were having.

"_Ashley, you seemed a little sad when you talked about your sister. Would you mind telling me about her?" _Ulrich asked curiously.

"_Well, I don't really like talking about it, but if you really want to know she was my best friend after our mother died. But for some reason my father abandoned me with my aunt and I never heard from either one of them again."_ Ashley frowned. _"You know, Aelita, she looked just like you and her name was even Aelita. When I saw you run through the park this morning, I thought you were her but I can tell you have a much different personality then my sister did."_

When they got to the infirmary, there wasn't anyone in the room and Dorothy was reading at her desk. When she saw Ulrich, she planted her hands on her hips. "_Well, Ulrich, what brings you to see me this time?"_

"_I have a bit of a headache, ma'am," _Ulrich said, rubbing his temple again. Dorothy handed him a couple of pills and he swallowed them while he watched her check Aelita.

"_Well, I don't know what ails, you but you don't have a headache so I think it could be that you are just tired. I want you to go back to your room and lay down for a while. Take this note so you don't get in trouble and Ulrich, can you please take this to Jim so he knows where Aelita is?" _She handed him the second note before turning to Ashley. "_How may I help you?"_

"_Well I was wondering if I could borrow and ace bandage or two. I am helping Jim, I used to attend Kadic and while I was walking around he asked if I could give him some assistance with this gym class._ _The thing is I hurt my wrist a couple weeks ago and when I do anything that requires putting my body weight on my arms it feels better if I wrap them."_

"_Well, I guess I could give you one, I wouldn't want to see you injure your wrist." _She smiled as she went to the cabinet and pulled out two and throwing them at her, _"No need to return them. You should probably have them if you plan on doing handstands frequently." _

"_Oh, thank you, but I have some already. I just forgot them at my hotel room." _Ashley said. Taking them, she set them in a bag and pulled out one for her ankle. "_Figures. The day I think I'd be fine and only bring the one for my ankle, I end up needing the ones for my wrist."_ She laughed as she sat in a chair and wrapped her ankle before doing her right and then her left wrist. "_I'll bring back these two after the class, I thank you very much."_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After school the five of them met in the factory. Aelita had rejoined them after gym class and finished off the day. Yumi looked at the others. _"I'm guessing that there's some urgency to this meeting, Jeremie?"_

"_Well, it concerns the visitor we had at lunch. She visited our gym class and even helped Jim out by supervising a group on the mats with flips and that stuff that Jim can't do even though he says he can. You get the point."_

"_So she was a volunteer, what's new? We get them from time to time." _Yumi shrugged.

"_No, not that. It was how she was introduced by Jim; he introduced her as Ashley Hopper- Hammond," _Jeremie said, stressing the first last name.

Aelita looked down at the ground. _"You'd think I would remember her if she was indeed related to me, wouldn't you think?"_

"_I wouldn't worry about it. Hopper is a fairly common last name. I'm sure at one point there must have been another Hopper family in attendance at the academy," _Yumi said, patting Aelita's shoulder.

Ulrich looked at the ground. "_Yumi, there is another part. Aelita was pretty distant when I found this out from Ashley, but her sister's name was supposedly Aelita as well."_

Yumi stared, slack jawed at the comment that came out of Ulrich's mouth. "_Are you kidding me, that can't be a coincidence."_

Odd, who had been quiet, actually had something intelligent to say. "_I don't know what you're all thinking, but what about the fact that XANA has tried tricking Aelita with false memories before? Do you think this could be the same thing only he's trying to create a family that still exists on Earth to get Aelita away from the Lyoko?"_

"_One problem with that theory, there aren't any activated towers," _Jeremie concluded. "_Unless…" _Jeremie turned in his chair and brought up the super scan._"Unless the tower is on one of the replicas." _

Half an hour later, he shook his head. "_Well there goes that idea, XANA is completely quiet."_

Ulrich shrugged. "_Well, France is a big country. What are the chances that she will ever be back at the academy, seeing as she is here on vacation?"_

The next afternoon after classes, Aelita left campus, telling Jeremy where she was going she headed to the Sub Digital's recording studio. Today was a rehearsal for the concert that would be in a few days. She found her way there easily; she had been there several times in the last few weeks. Chris had called her the night before to tell her that some special guests would be watching and she suspected it might be one of the band's publishers. Upon walking into the studio, she stopped short only to see Ashley standing in the recording booth with the other man from before.

"_Ahh, Aelita, here you are!" _Chris exclaimed._ "I would like you to meet one of my former schoolmates Ashley, she was at the school with me yesterday to eat lunch."_ He showed her over to where the brown haired girl stood talking with the other members of the band.

"Ashley, Andros?" he asked in English. "I would like you to meet Aelita, she is our opening act for our next concert as a prize for winning a contest to find the best amateur DJ."

Ashley smiled and then looked at Chris. "Oh, we already met." Turning to Aelita, she switched to French. "_Aelita, how are you feeling? You look much better than yesterday when I last saw you."_

"_I… I'm fine, thank you. I just hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and the idea of Jim's class was making me a bit dizzy," _Aelita replied cautiously, after thinking for a minute of how to answer. In reality, the shock of hearing the girl's maiden name had made her feel faint.

Ashley laughed. "_You remind me of my sister more and more as I get to know yous. My sister used to get light-headed at the thought Jim's class, especially when the topic was gymnastics, Jim and gymnastics just don't go together. Remember, Chris?"_

Chris laughed. "_Of course I do. 'Lita was a piece of work when it came to having to watch Jim demonstrate things that require agility."_

Aelita started to look a bit uneasy. "_I'm sorry, Chris, but I really do have homework tonight that I must get done. Could we please get on with the rehearsal?"_

"_Oh yes, of course, Aelita, I don't know what I was thinking with my little trip down memory lane. Why don't you get set up and show us what you have been working on for the concert?" _Chris said, pointing to the mixing board that had been set up just for her. At Chris' indication, Ashley and Andros left the recording room and sat in the sound booth with the crew watching.

About halfway through the rehearsal after hers, Aelita looked at the clock. She had only gotten permission to stay off campus till six o'clock and it was now almost five thirty. During the song break she excused herself, apologizing to Chris and the rest of the Sub Digitals.

"_Aelita, you sure you have to go now? We could get you a ride back to school later, but we were going to go out and eat, with you, of course, as a celebration of the upcoming concert," _Chris said.

"_I am sure, I really need to go. The principal is away visiting family, so I really have to get back unless I want to face detention from Jim for being late," _Aelita stammered nervously.

"_Aw, I can handle that old coon. He is my uncle after all, so if it is only Jim you're worrying about, don't worry," _Chris said, taking out his cell phone, ready to call the school.

"_That is really nice, but it isn't just Jim. I have to meet with Jeremie. We are doing a project together for our French literature class," _Aelita said, excusing herself out the door and making her way back to school where she went straight to Jeremie's room to work on the project with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She set her bag down once inside the room. Jeremie turned to look at her, finding her flushed. "_You look like you ran all the down back. You know there wasn't any rush other than Jim, but he seems to be a weak link around his nephew.."_

"_I know, but Chris offered to have me stay till the end of the practice, then go for an early supper with the band and Ashley,"_ Aelita explained.

"_She was there?" _Jeremie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"_Yes, apparently she and Chris were schoolmates. But she talked more about her sister Aelita and how I remind her of her. It was so confusing—I mean, the coincidences are there, but her Aelita is a bit different in the way we act. Then there's the fact that I don't remember her at all,"_ Aelita said as she sat on the bed.

Just then Jeremie's computer beeped. He went to it and brought up something he had been working on. "_I was decoding another one of your father's entries, one that I had ignored till now. It didn't seem relevant, but I'm looking to see if it says anything on the replicas."_

He studied the screen for a moment longer, and then gasped. "_This doesn't talk about replicas, but another set of keys. Its vague at best, but that's what I got. This has to be the most cryptic entry your father ever wrote." _

"_Jeremie, does it say where the keys are hidden?" _Aelita walked over to read the screen as well.

"_No, not specifically. He does mention something about his other angel, it's pretty clear that it isn't you though… Maybe it was your mother?"_

"_No, I doubt that. My memories are pretty clear there. She was gone well before he started going crazy with creating Lyoko." _Aelita shrugged and pulled out her French book.

They worked for an hour and just before they were going to break to go to supper, the super scan went off. "_Oh, what now?" _Jeremie muttered as he glanced at the screen. He sighed. "_Activated tower_ _in the Ice sector. You call Yumi and I will get Odd and Ulrich."_

He grabbed his cell phone as he sprinted out the door with Aelita following close behind. Aelita ended up finding both Yumi and Ulrich because they had been together in the gym sparring, and Odd was stuffing his face as per usual.

Meeting them by the sewer entrance in the park, Odd lifted the cap and climbed down. Jeremie placed the cap back in place as he went down. When they got to the factory exit Yumi and Ulrich were waiting for them. Climbing up the out of the sewer, Aelita glanced back to see Ashley walking on the bridge ahead of them with her husband.

"_Does she have to turn up wherever I am?"_ Aelita asked silently as she helped Jeremie up out of the hole. The group ran, however, when they got to where Ashley was. Her husband turned and they could see that he was under XANA's control.

They heard her speak in English. "Andros, what's wrong? It's just some kids. You still haven't told me why you wanted to bring me here. It's just an old factory that was abandoned long before I was a student at Kadic. Kids have been coming here to hide and break curfew for years."

Instead of the answer she expected, Andros glared at the Lyoko gang before throwing an electricity blast at the five of them. He shoved Ashley onward. Ashley stalled. "Andros, this isn't like you. Please stop, you're scaring me," she begged and when he tried pushing her on, she spun around and grabbed his morphers from his pockets. She knew that he'd put them there for protection. Ashley kicked him as hard as she could, and shoved the morphers into her pockets, bringing hers out in the place of his.

Ashley noticed Aelita standing there before running with the rest of the kids to the ropes.

Her attention was soon drawn back to her husband. XANA's control had made Andros powerful, much stronger than usual, and Ashley hesitated to morph with the kids around.

She soon realized that she was going to be pushed off the ledge by her own husband and that she would have no choice but to morph if she wanted to land safely.

Ulrich was running just behind Aelita for protection. The two of them were nearly to the elevator they heard Ashley scream as she fell. They turned toward the sound as she started to glow yellow. As she landed, it was as the yellow space ranger. The two of them kept running until they reached the elevator and the last thing they saw was Andros land on his feet as he jumped to the lower level.

In the scanner room, they found Yumi and Odd already being virtualized. As soon as they finished, Aelita jumped in one with Ulrich in another. Jeremie, while still keeping an eye on Lyoko and their status, had an eye out for Ashley, who was still fighting her Xanafied husband. He had heard of the Power Rangers but didn't think they were real, but yet he was seeing one fighting right then and there in the factory.

As he got watched, Ashley took Andros down with a blaster that had been by her side and he stayed down. Catching his breath, Jeremie hoped she hadn't just killed him.

Ashley demorphed and sat by Andros's side, weeping and checking Andros's pulse. She must have found it; smiling, she stood up and ran to the elevator, evidently to see where the kids had gone.

"_Guys, I am letting Ashley into the lab. She just knocked out Andros. I hope I am not making a mistake on this, but I need to find out more on her," _Jeremie spoke through the mike. Aelita and the others were fighting Blocks and Tarantulas in the proximity of the activated tower.

Odd answered. "_Einstein, before you do I am almost out of life points let me join you back there."_ He paused. "_Ulrich, hit me." _His voice cut off as his life points degenerated, bringing him back to Earth.

He climbed a ladder up to the lab and Jeremie hit the button to release the code and open the door. The elevator had long since reached its destination and stopped outside the lab. When it opened, Ashley's jaw dropped as she saw the computer along with Jeremie and Odd.

"_I want some answers," _she said, outraged yet still in awe._ "First my husband starts acting all weird and then I go to find you to tell you it's alright, and three of you are missing with two of you sitting around a computer unlike any I have ever seen on Earth."_

Odd stared her down. "_You should know what this is. You claim to be a Hopper."_

"_And what does being a Hopper have to do with a big computer sitting in the basement of an abandoned factory?"_ Ashley inquired.

"_Odd, Hopper is a common name. It doesn't mean that she is related to Franz Hopper,"_ Jeremie reasoned.

"_How do you know about my father? You would have been like two when he vanished? I—I myself was only thirteen."_ Ashley stammered in surprise at the claim that these kids knew her father.

"_How do we know you're not lying? I mean, all we have is your word about being related to Franz."_ Odd shrugged.

"_Here, you two want proof?"_ She fished out her pocketbook and pulled out a small, well worn photo album. "_I kept this on me even though I told everyone for years that I had disassociated myself from ever having lived in France. My father gave this to me just before he left me on my aunt's doorstep. It was the last family picture we had taken before my mother's death."_

She showed them the picture and they could clearly make out Franz Hopper standing next to the pink haired lady that Aelita had described after a vision of her past. Then there was Aelita herself standing next to a much younger Ashley and the two of them were laughing at something.

Jeremy felt something behind the picture. "_Can I take the picture out, I think there is something behind this?"_

"_If you feel so inclined," _Ashley consented reluctantly.

Slowly, Jeremie removed the picture and found behind it a small stack of cards that were no doubt written in Franz Hopper's hand. It was all code so Jeremie proceeded to type them up and find out what they meant.

Aelita's voice rang through the system. "_I am at the tower, Jeremie."_

"_Okay, well done, Aelita. Deactivate the tower, then get back here. There is quite a surprise waiting to be found out here in the computer lab,"_ Jeremie explained through his headset.

The tower deactivated and Jeremie de-virtualized the three on Lyoko while waiting for the code he had entered translated into something he could read.

Yumi looked at Ashley upon coming into the lab. "_How did you keep—" _She paused, not know what his name was, _"him from coming down here?"_

"_That was an easy one. I knew Andros would never want to do any harm so I knocked him out cold using my Astro blaster. It's my standard side arm as a ranger," _Ashley replied before asking a question of them. "_You obviously know what was going on, so please tell me."_

"_Your husband was under the control of a computer virus who is trying to destroy the world, in a sense,"_ Aelita said, stepping forward with the answer. "_I am the only one who can deactivate the towers, but because XANA also wants to destroy me, the others go with me as Lyoko Warriors to keep the monsters that XANA sends away from me for the most part."_

Jeremie's gasp caught their attention. "_This is unbelievable! The code I found in the back of your picture, Ashley, it's the code for the other set of keys that I was telling you about earlier, Aelita."_

"_Jeremie, do you know what they are for?" _Aelita asked. She moved to stand next to his chair and look at the screen. "_Can we use them to make ourselves stronger against XANA?"_

"_Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that's what they were designed for. They might have another purpose because the code is only very slightly different from the code of the ones XANA took from you in order to escape, so I just want to say that they are earlier versions of your keys."_

Odd kicked the ground. "_Am I right, Einstein, in translating what you just said as the keys are most likely useless seeing as XANA got Aelita's before you got the ones from Ashley?"_

"_Odd, we're not sure but we think so,"_ Aelita replied, glancing at him before looking back at the computer screen.

"_I want to know what you're babbling on about now. What does my having this key have to do with anything?"_ Ashley asked, looking Aelita over.

"_You got your keys from your father," _Aelita explained softly. She took a deep breath._ "So did I, Ashley. I don't remember you but the proof is here. I am—or was?—your sister. My father went crazy and took me into the computer eleven years ago where I was stuck for ten years. We figured out that time isn't the same inside Lyoko and the computer materializes you like it last recorded you entering it. For me it was as a thirteen year old."_

"_Oh my…" _Ashley stepped back, finally taking a clear look at Aelita. "_My father really was crazy. He designed a computer that not only wants to destroy the world but can take people inside of it?"_

"_It looks that way,"_ Yumi said, coming up to Ashley.

Ashley turned quickly and ran from the room. Aelita chased after her. Climbing the ladder out of the lab, she found Ashley sitting next to a confused Andros, who was just waking up. _"Ashley? I'm sorry. I never asked for a crazy father, either. I go to bed almost every night thinking about the life he took from me, but also I am thankful for my friends and that I have been given a second chance. Even though I think this of my father, I still want to save him."_

Andros looked at Ashley, still groggy. "What's going on and how did I get here? The last thing I remember is being at the restaurant."

"It's a long story, Andros, and a confusing one at that," Ashley replied. She placed her hand on his shoulder before helping him up.

"_Ashley, like I said, I don't remember you and I know that it must be weird to find out that age and appearance wise you are older than I am. But I'm willing to believe that you are my sister."_ Aelita took a step closer to Ashley.

"Ashley, what's going on?" Andros looked between the two girls, rubbing his head.

"We think Aelita is my sister, frozen in time through some freak accident of my father's doing," Ashley explained to her confused and still woozy husband.

Aelita took a few more steps forward and put her head down. _ "I know this is awkward, Ashley, but I want you to help me remember. Even if it is too awkward to be sisters, can we at least be friends, can you tell me about the old days?" _Aelita asked. "_You're the first of my relatives that has found me. Dad's still locked in the computer and we don't even know what kind of shape he is in because he is hard to localize on Lyoko, the world that exists inside the computer."_

Ashley sighed. A smile formed on her face as she walked towards the younger girl, before bending over and hugging her tight. "_Of course, Aelita. I'll be here for you, no matter what. I am just confused about everything right now but I want everything to work out for you. _

"_It is awkward, though… you're so different than you were ten years ago, when I remember you. But of course being linked to a computer for ten years must do that for you." _

Standing up, she parted from Aelita. "_I'll remain here for you, don't you worry."_ Handing a small slip of paper to Aelita, she said, "_Don't be afraid to call me anytime. I almost always have my phone on unless I am off the planet. Maybe I will see you around in these next few days before I head back to the States."_

Aelita held the slip of paper in her hand as she watched Ashley turn to leave with Andros. Wiping a tear that was forming, she resisted the urge to run back towards Ashley and instead headed back down to the computer lab where she found Jeremie waiting for her.

"_Hey Aelita, will you be alright? _Yumi asked as soon as she reentered the lab.

"_Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just really mind blowing finding that I have a sister after all this time."_ Aelita sighed. "_Jeremie, you weren't going to do a return to the past were you? I don't think I would know how to explain al this to Ashley a second time around."_

"_I don't think it is necessary at all. Your sister is obviously good at keeping secrets, seeing what she does, and XANA taking over Andros didn't seem to cause many problem. It just seems he took her on a walk and they ended up here with the intention of getting the keys from her." _Jeremie paused. "_I would like to have her assure me she won't tell, though, just to be on the safe side. Do you know where she went?"_

"_No, I don't know where she went, but she gave me her cell phone number," _Aelita said. She sat in front of the super computer to dial the number she had been given.

The phone was answered in English. "Hello?"

"_Hello, Ashley, this is Aelita. My friend Jeremie wants to tell you something."_ Aelita spoke into the headset before handing it off to Jeremie.

"_Ashley, I need you to promise to the five of us that you will keep our secret of the super computer. Normally if people find out about the computer we reset time, which is another feature of the super computer, but because of the uniqueness of your encounter we aren't. But authorities have tried to make us shut it down in the past, but I hope from what Aelita told you that just isn't possible."_

"_Of course, Jeremie. I swear to you and all the Lyoko warriors that I won't tell," _Ashley agreed. _"Could you put Aelita back on?"_

Jeremie handed the headset back to Aelita. "_I'm back, Ashley. I'm glad you're willing to keep our secret. I don't know how I would explain it to you if we had to reset the timeline."_

"_I know, right? That would be extremely awkward. But, hey, I forgot to tell you, anytime you need anything at all, just give me a call. I don't know how you are staying at that school without pointing any fingers, but give me a call anything at all. When you and Dad disappeared, I inherited quite a bit of money from Dad," _Ashley said.

"_Thanks Ashley. Do you think we could get together sometime and talk about the rest of everything?" _Aelita asked, aware that her friends were staring at her. She ignored them.

"_Yes, of course, but would tomorrow morning be alright? Andros is sort of freaked by what happened and seems a bit anxious to get home again. If tomorrow doesn't work, I can promise to come back often to check on you."_

"_I think tomorrow morning would be okay. We don't have any classes in the morning, so I would just have to get permission to leave campus,"_ Aelita confirmed.

"_Alright, then. Do you want me to call for you? I'll tell Delmas that your parents were old friends and I would like to get caught up." _Aelita agreed, and Ashley said, "_Alright then. I'll call back if he says no but if I don't, just meet me by the front gate at, say, eight and we can go from there."_

"_Wait, let me give you my number, I'm using the super computer right now."_ Aelita rattled off her number and Ashley hung up after bidding her farewell again.

Aelita removed the headset from her ear and turned toward the others. _"Let's get back to school before Jim has a reason to yell at us. We've been gone for ages." _

"_Ah, shoot… My parents are going to kill me when I get home! it's so late," _Yumi complained as she ran into the elevator, followed by the others.

"_You're going to get in trouble? What about my stomach, I had to be ripped away from dinner! I'm surprised my stomach isn't threatening to move out for lack of attention right now."_ Odd held his stomach.

"_Oh, quit whining, Odd. I bought you a little something the last time I was at the store so you wouldn't have to go hungry if we ever again had a late night mission."_ Ulrich sighed.

"_You did? Tell me what you got me, please?"_ Odd begged.

"_No, I won't tell you_. _It's a surprise." _Ulrich pushed the begging Odd out of his face, and Aelita had to smile glad that she had her friends as well as a sister.

Once back at school, she took out her books and did her homework from the day. By the time she had finished and was getting ready for bed, Ashley had not called. Smiling, she remembered a scene of her and Ashley in the past. They had said bedtime prayers together. Even though she wasn't sure if she believed, she felt the urge to kneel by the edge of her bed and give thanks for being reunited with her sister.

Climbing into bed, she dreamt dreams of her past. She remembered Chris and Ashley running through the sewers to beat class in order to pick up forgotten school work. They were pleasant dreams, except for in the morning she woke up quite embarrassed. When Jeremie walked out to the gate with her to meet Ashley, she almost couldn't look at him without blushing.

"_Aelita, is something wrong?" _he asked, looking concerned.

"_Oh, nothing, Jeremie… It's just, well… How much do you love me?"_ Aelita looked up at Jeremie and blushed profusely.

"_Why would you ask me that? I love you a great deal you know that I have stuck by your side since the beginning," _he said, holding her chin up.

"_Would you care that in my past I was really involved with another guy?"_ Aelita blushed more.

"_Not really. I mean, that was then this is now. That person is probably a lot older than you are now and maybe he's married," _ Jeremie said confidently.

"_I dated Chris before all this happened and we used to kiss and he loved me a great deal. I don't know if I can go back to the studio and think the same way I used to about my chance to open their concert."_ Aelita sighed.

"_Just think of him as a friend. He doesn't know that you are the same girl he used to date. If you want, I can come to your last rehearsal so you don't have to think about him."_ Jeremie smiled as he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, before looking up to see Ashley walking down the sidewalk.

Aelita smiled and kissed him with a quick, unsuspecting peck on the lips. She ran to join Ashley, laughing as she did so. Jeremie returned to the dorms to do some work and as he walked to his room, he detoured by Odd and Ulrich's room. Ulrich was nowhere in sight but Odd was tearing Ulrich's side of the room apart.

"_Odd, what are you doing to Ulrich's bed?"_ Jeremie gasped.

"_He gave me a bowl of something last night! I'm trying to find out what it was, it is so good. I need to have more!"_ Odd whined

"_Well, you won't find it in there. Ulrich is smarter than that, I know that much."_ Jeremie smiled before walking down the hall, whistling.


	7. Chapter 7

Ashley and Aelita were sitting at an outdoor café having a hot drink and talking. Well Ashley was doing most of the talking about the past with Aelita doing most of the listening. However at one point she did get the nerve to ask a question, "_Ashley, do you know just how…"_ she broke off because as she was about to say the next line she saw Chris walk onto the sidewalk where all the tables were set out.

"_How what?"_ Ashley asked but then looked in the direction Aelita was indicating with her finger on the table.

"_Hi girls this is a bit of a surprise seeing you together, seeing as how uncomfortable you felt around my good friend Aelita?"_ Chris said walking up to their table.

"_Well we had an encounter last night and I told Aelita I would finish telling her a story about when we went to Kadic." _ Ashley said watching Aelita very carefully taking note when she relaxed a bit over not spilling her secret.

"_well good for you two, im going to go order and then I would like to hear about this encounter if you don't mind telling a guy that is."_ Chris laughed as he walked away

"_you were going to ask me if I knew how involved your relationship with Chris was am I right?"_ Ashley asked and Aeltia nodded, "_it was more him that thought you two were dating, to you, you were just good friends however he always said he saw something more and would insist on kissing you goodnight if we were out late at the movies or something. You enjoyed spending time with him but I don't think there was ever a real relationship between you two beyond friendship."_

Aelita looked up and then asked again, "_but I told you that I had some dreams of memories last night and I dreamt of him kissing me on the lips and me kissing back."_

"_well that is funny because the only and I must over state only time you did that was for a class project. I am sure you know of it, they must still do it, the one where you have to pretend to be married. Chris suggested towards the end to see if either of you felt anything for each other."_ Ashley explained, "_ I should know I was standing in front of you when you did it, having been hired by Chris to baby-sit your sack of flower you were supposed to be raising."_

Aelita sighed and looked up as she saw Chris come back onto the patio with a Styrofoam cup in hand; talking on his cell-phone. "_Hey girls, I would love to stay and chat but that was my manager, she wants to have a meeting this morning about the order of business for the concert next week. Aelita she also wants to know if you're available for tonight. She wants to go over some information like on who to issue your free tickets too that kind of stuff so its not a big crisis if your not."_

"_Yeah sure, I think I'm available however a friend might stop by with me."_ Aelita said as he nodded and walked away. Turning to Ashley she put her head down, "_well that went well."_

"_Do you want to tell him the truth or keep him in the dark about your truth?"_ Ashley asked looking at her sister.

"_I would have to ask Jeremie that and we would have to assess if it would be worthwhile to tell him the secret because I can't actually tell him I'm your sister without having to explain my lack of aging."_

"_Your right and you know what it is entirely up to you on who you tell, I won't even mention it to my team mates. Andros won't say anything either he barely knows what went on last night and hasn't yet asked about it. But you can trust him as well." Ashley smiled."_ Ashley smiled then looking at her watch, "_oh my we should probably get going, Andros was going to meet me at the school with our things so we can catch the noon flight."_

Standing up they threw their empty cups away and walked down the street. As she was walking beside Ashley she pulled something out of her bag and looked at it quizzically. "_Aelita is something wrong?"_ Ashley asked looking at what she held

"_No I am just wondering how the extra Can of Odd's surprise dinner from last night wound up in my bag." _Aelita stated showing it to Ashley. "_When we have late missions Odd always complains of being hungry because we forced him to miss supper."_

"_Aelita do you know what it is?" _Ashley said looking at the can

"_Nope no clue Ulrich took the real label off and put a label that says "Odd's Surprise" on it just to throw us all off." _She then paused, "_Jeremie must have put in my bag. I saw Ulrich pass something off to him last night before I went to my room. he was told to keep it away from Odd."_ Aelita exclaimed spinning the can around in her hand.

"_Well then Ulrich really doesn't want Odd to know what is in that can if he is playing keep away as well as removing the label." _Ashley grinned shaking her head

When they got back to the school Andros was waiting at the main gate with a taxi. Ashley turned to Aelita "_Remember anything at all I am just a call away and unless I am unavailable I am just a teleport away. Maybe summer break you can come and stay with me and Andros. I will try to make it for one of your concerts with the sub digitals as well just tell me which dates you get the free tickets for."_

"_Will do Ashley, I promise to keep in touch. I don't want to lose the only family member I can tell about what happened to me." _Aelita hugged her tight and stepped away waving as Ashley climbed into the taxi and it drove out of sight.

Walking back to her room she stopped by Jeremie's "_Jeremie what do you want done with the can of food."_

"_Pass it off to Yumi when you see her. She is going to hide it where Odd will never think of looking. I passed it to you because Odd will never suspect that you would hold it in your bag with him around."_ Jeremie explained

"_Jeremie if we defeat XANA what would you think if I went away for the summer?" _Aelita asked from the doorway.

"_Well I would miss you but you deserve the right to get away as well. I am guessing that even if we didn't destroy him we could do without you for a bit now that I have the spare set of keys. It would just be an easy plug in to enter them to one of the others files and give them the power to deactivate the towers." _

"_Jeremie what are you saying?" _Aelita questioned

"_Well I was doing some bookwork when it came to me. It's your set of keys that allow you to have an effect on Lyoko control XANA and such. We have a set of lyoko keys here right now that we got from your sister. Before now I had no idea about the coding for the keys."_

"_I never thought of it like that I know that the keys were special and that XANA had to make a copy of them to free him self. But I just never thought it possible that maybe one of the others could get my abilities."_

"_Aelita don't worry about that at all. We won't use them unless you can't be with us. Having the keys is your special place on the team."_ Jeremie hugged Aelita and she smiled as she turned to walk back to her room. She had Jeremie and she had her sister, she knew her life may not be normal but she knew for sure that she was loved


End file.
